COLUMBUS, OHIO – An hour after the U.S. rolled over Mexico with a 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory Tuesday night, nearly 1,000 American fans remained at Crew Stadium, locked in on the closing minutes of the Honduras-Panama match playing on the stadium’s scoreboard.

A Honduras victory or draw coupled with the U.S. victory would clinch a spot in the 2014 World Cup for the Americans.

“Blow your whistle, blow your whistle,” the U.S. fans chanted as the match, deadlocked at 2-2 on a late Panama goal, seemed to drag on.

A few feet away similar comments, accented with profanity and an even greater sense of urgerncy, were directed at the television in the U.S. lockerroom.

Finally, the whistle blew, and within a few minutes U.S. players emerged from a stadium tunnel in an impromptu curtain call, dousing the fans with a celebratory shower of champagne and beer.

“We are going, we are going,” the fans sang through the shower, “we are going to Brazil!”

Team USA, led by its German, Orange County-based coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, and a pair of rejuvenated stars – goalkeeper Tim Howard and forward Landon Donovan – advanced to a seventh consecutive World Cup, booking a spot in Brazil ’14 while dealing a major blow to Mexico’s already dimming World Cup hopes.

The loss dropped Mexico further into fourth place in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying group standings, with only the top three teams assured a spot in Brazil.

“This is a huge, huge evening for all of us,” Klinsmann said.

Especially for Klinsmann, Howard and Donovan. Howard’s world-class goalkeeping in the first half enabled the U.S. to withstand a Mexican onslaught while Donovan set up the first goal and then scored the second in a final 45 minutes thoroughly dominated by the Americans.

Securing a World Cup spot with two qualifying games remaining was vindication for Klinsmann’s two-year attempt to change the culture of American soccer, a process that has been painful and slow at times and has been the subject of criticism, especially after the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.

“Two years ago (U.S. players) wondered what this was all about,” Klinsmann, the former German national team superstar who coached Germany to third place at the 2006 World Cup, said of his overhaul. “Now it’s just normal to them.”

Howard had come under fire recently, especially after last Friday’s 3-1 loss at Costa Rica. But the Everton keeper was at his best from the opening whistle Tuesday night. He made the first in a series of crucial saves just two minutes into the game, but his biggest stop came in the 44th minute when he dived to his left to rob Mexico forward Giovani Dos Santos of a goal.

“Tim played great,” U.S. defender Omar Gonzalez said. “He made that one save against Dos Santos which was amazing. He kept us at the zero. First half was crucial because once we weathered that storm, Mexico didn’t have much in the second half.”

Mexico started the night already in a hole, two points out of third place in the qualifying group with only three matches remaining. “They looked relatively timid and shy throughout,” Donovan said. “I’ve never seen a Mexico team like that.”

Thwarted repeatedly by Howard, the hole seemed even deeper at halftime.

“The game went exactly as we wanted in the first half,” interim Mexico coach Luis Fernando Tena said, “and then we got anxious and left some holes.”

And Donovan exploited them. Six months ago, Donovan, the veteran of three World Cups and the U.S. all-time scoring leader, wasn’t sure if he wanted to continue playing. He took a sabbatical that cooled his relationship with Klinsmann but left him rejuvenated and recommitted.

Four minutes into the second half, Donovan dropped a corner kick into the penalty area that Eddie Johnson beat Mexican defender Diego Reyes to, heading the ball into the goal for a 1-0 lead that further deflated Mexico.

“You could see it in the Mexican players’ body language,” Klinsmann said. “They got heavier and heavier. You could see the psychological (weight) in their mind. They were starting to doubt.”

When Donovan scored off a Mix Diskerud cross in the 78th minute, U.S. fans launched into a chorus, “You’re not going to Brazil! You’re not going to Brazil!”

Mexico was already headed to the freeway while anxious U.S. players continued to shout at a television and a match 1,800 miles away that wouldn’t end. When Honduras went up 2-1, an ESPN camera crew entered the lockerroom to record the U.S. celebration – only to see Panama equalize soon after.

“Camera came in for the celebration and then they scored, so it was kind of a roller coaster,” Gonzalez said. “Don’t jinx it.”

Eventually the whistle blew and the roller coaster was headed to Brazil. Gonzalez and his teammates walked out onto the pitch, drenching fans hoping to hitch a ride in Budweiser and champagne.

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